…like Megan Silberberger, a Washington state teacher who stopped a shooter in her school cafeteria. (She later said, “I reacted exactly like all my colleagues would in this type of event. I am a schoolteacher, and like all teachers, I am committed to the safety and well being of my students”).

…like Brady Olson, a social studies teacher who tackled and disarmed a teen shooter at his school. (As part of his official statement on the event, he said, “As always, students come first, and today was no different.”)

…like teacher David Benke and Assistant Principal Becky Brown: Benke tackled the Littleton Colorado school shooter, and Brown pulled the gun from the shooter’s hands while he and Benke wrestled for control of it. (When asked why she ran toward the sound of gunshots, Brown commented, “Those kids are my kids, and it’s important, and my teachers, we’re like family.”)

…and of course let’s not forget Vicki Soto, an elementary school teacher who, during the Newtown shooting, hid her students, lied to the shooter about their whereabouts, then used her own body to shield them, before being shot dead.

Governor Kasich, I’m so upset about “whiney” teachers like Soto, Librescu, and Sanders that I tear up just writing about them. Yes, Governor Kasich, let’s recognize that teachers are the problem. The real hero here is you, for making it easier for people to carry concealed weapons and for explaining to us that “there were already a bunch of laws” before Columbine, and the best way to deal with school shootings is to give parents more choice about where they send their children to school. Thank God there are moderates like you still in the GOP field!

Caricature of John Kasich by DonkeyHotey, used under Creative Commons Generic 2.0 License, from Flickr.

About The Author

Bryan W. Van Norden is a professor of philosophy at Vassar College, and the author of numerous books, including Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy (Hackett Publishing, 2011). You can follow him on twitter: @BryanVanNorden. The views expressed in this essay are his own.